Tag Archives | War on Women

Obama gives speech to Planned Parenthood that conservatives said he cancelled

“Planned Parenthood is not going anywhere”

President Obama delivered remarks to the national Planned Parenthood conference today. He had been scheduled to deliver them earlier in the week but, instead, delayed his speech to spend more time with the victims of the explosion in West, Texas. When it was announced that his original speech was cancelled, the anti-Choice group Susan B. Anthony List declared victory (as did others).

They were, of course, quite wrong.

Details and a full transcript of his speech after the jump.


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UPDATED – Women betrayed: TEN female House Republicans vote against the Violence Against Women Act

Thanks for nothing, ladies

UPDATE: I mistakenly identified only nine women members of Congress that voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The number is actually TEN. Thanks to Kathy Kramer in the comments who pointed out my oversight.

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) which had lapsed in 2011. Renewal of the VAWA was repeatedly voted down by Republicans for nearly two years. The version the House passed today was a comprehensive bill that extended protections to Native American women, lesbians & gays, and immigrants. It was passed after a watered-down Republican version was rejected. Because the bill they passed had already passed the Senate, it now goes to President Obama for his signature.

When the bill passed the Senate, every single woman in the Senate voted for it. However, among the 138 House members who voted against it today, all whom were Republicans, there were nine women who joined them.

See the full list after the jump.


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Mich House Spkr Bolger: “I have absolutely no interest in forcing a woman to have a transvaginal ultrasound”

Well, that didn’t take long

Just two days after some of the more anti-woman elements in the Michigan State House of Representatives introduced legislation that would essentially mandate invasive transvaginal ultrasounds for women getting an abortion, Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger says he’s not interested.

Maybe he saw what happened down in Virginia when they tried the same thing there. Details on this and more after the jump.


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Another day, another couple more battles waged in the Michigan GOP War on Women

They aren’t giving up so neither can we

With the pushback they received after their explosive inflamed duck session and their loss of six seats in the state House of Representatives, you would think Michigan Republicans would be taking a breather, girding themselves for the battles ahead.

And you would be wrong.

On the contrary, fresh from the winter break, they came roaring back in and in the first few weeks, have shown that they aren’t satisfied in winning the War on Women in Michigan. They appear to believe there is so much more crushing of women’s rights and paternal “protecting” to be done.

Details after the jump.


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The New York Times tells Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder: End the War on Women, veto the abortion bills

The next move is yours Governor. The entire world is watching.

There are three bills sitting on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s desk awaiting his signature to become law. Or, preferably, to be vetoed into the rubbish bin of Michigan history where they below. The three bills are Senate Bill 1293, Senate Bill 1294 and House Bill 5711. The three bills will make Michigan one of the (if not THE) most regressive states in the country with regard to women being able to obtain a safe, legal abortion.

I want to emphasize one of the words in the last sentence because it is very important: LEGAL.

Abortion has been legal in this country for 39 years. This medical operation to prevent a nonviable bundle of tissue cells from developing inside a woman’s uterus into a human has been legal for 39 years. The anti-abortion forces in this country, not content to simply not have abortions themselves, have spend nearly four decades making access to this legal medical procedure nearly impossible. In Michigan, they are about to see this wish come true.

Think about it: what other medical procedure can you think of that has been legislated nearly out of existence despite being legal?

The New York Times has a brilliant and scathing op-ed piece today titled “An Affront to Michigan Women”. It is aimed directly at Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

Some excerpts and further commentary after the jump.


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Guest Post: Men Who Stare at Votes — Insulting treatment of female constituents by Michigan Republicans

Depends on your definition of “represent”, I suppose…

This post is a cross-post of a terrific piece by Emily Magner from her blog Musings of a Lady. The original post can be found HERE.

In her piece, Magner talks about her treatment by two Republican legislators who “represent” her. She and a group of students did their civic duty by traveling to Lansing to meet with their State Senator and Representative to discuss House Bill 5711, a sweeping anti-abortion bill that will severely limit access to women’s reproductive health services, including abortions, across Michigan. The bill has a particularly acute impact on rural women — like the women in Magner’s area.

The treatment they encountered, while not surprising given the recent behavior of Michigan Republican lawmakers, is a story that needs to be heard.

Her essay after the jump.


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Inflamed duck — Republicans rush to complete their two-year power grab in the last five days

It IS impressive…

If you thought the speed with which Michigan Republicans went to chit chatting about making Michigan a Right to Work for Less state and actually accomplishing that was impressive, you should keep watching because they aren’t done yet, not by a long shot. The frantic pace continued yesterday, just one day after they kicked unions to the curb and brought a record number of people to the Capitol to protest.

Read about the four major pieces of legislation that passed in the House after the jump.


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Michigan Republicans sneak through legislation to limit women’s access to abortion services during Right to Work madness

While you were looking over THERE…

While the spotlight and media attention was focused on the outrageous anti-worker legislation that Republicans jammed through the legislature last Thursday, they also made sure to throw in some equally outrageous attacks in their War on Women. Bills were passed as part of their overhaul of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan that include prohibitions on access to abortion for Michigan women. Additionally, they passed a bill that will force ALL women covered by health insurance in Michigan to purchase separate riders covering abortion services.

Details after the jump.


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Michigan Republicans prove a fetus is more valuable than a child, introduce fetal personhood legislation

They love you until you’re born

It’s getting pretty tough for Michigan Republicans to surprise me anymore but, dammit, they went ahead and did it anyway. This week, they introduced legislation that establishes a tax credit for unborn fetuses.

I’m not kidding.


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By Popular Demand: GOP Rape Advisory Chart (Vol. IV)

Recently I said I was finally done with these things, but with yet ANOTHER idiotic, offensive statement by a Republican about rape victims the other day, I’ve been turned into Al Pacino in Godfather III*

I therefore present the Republican Rape Advisory Chart…Volume IV.

I’ve also included links to the complete 4-volume set; feel free to use/repost as appropriate, but please upload the image to your own server to keep the bandwidth hit low on mine. I also ask that you keep the “compiled by Brainwrap” text at the bottom.

*(“Just when I thought I was out…they pulled me back in.”)


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